2017 IndyCar Series season preview: 17 races, 21 full-time entries

The 2017 IndyCar Series, the premier American open-wheel racing competition, will start its 22nd season under the IndyCar name on the second weekend of March, at the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. The 2017 IndyCar calendar features 17 rounds, one more than in 2016, with six races at ovals, six at road courses and five at street circuits.

Season kicks off again at the streets of St.Petersburg

The city of St.Petersburg is a venue of the season-opening event since 2011. After an opening in March, three rounds will take place in April before IndyCar racers moved to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May. The World Center of Racing will host Grand Prix race at a 2.4-mile road course on May 13 and the 101th running of Indianapolis 500 at the 2.5-mile oval on May 28.

The summer would be the busiest period of the season, with four rounds in June (including a double-header at Detroit Belle Isle), three rounds in July, two rounds in August and two rounds in September. Compared to 2016, the only new venue on the list is the Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois, which returns to the schedule for the first time since 2003. The 1.25-mile oval will host a race on August 26.

2017 IndyCar Series calendar

Round

Date

Event name

Circuit

1

March 12

Firestone Grand Prix of St.Petersburg

Streets of St.Petersburg, Florida

2

April 9

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Streets of Long Beach, California

3

April 23

Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama

4

April 29

Phoenix Grand Prix

Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Arizona

5

May 13

IndyCar Grand Prix

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course

6

May 28

101st Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

7

June 3

Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Race 1

The Raceway at Belle Isle Park, Detroit, Michigan

8

June 4

Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Race 2

The Raceway at Belle Isle Park, Detroit, Michigan

9

June 10

Rainguard Water Sealer 600

Texas Motor Speedway, Forth Worth, Texas

10

June 25

Kohler Grand Prix

Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

11

July 9

Iowa Corn 300

Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa

12

July 16

Honda Indy Toronto

Exhibition Place, Toronto, Canada

13

July 30

Honda Indy 200

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio

14

August 20

ABC Supply 500

Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania

15

August 26

Bommarito Automotive Group 500

Gateway Motorsports Park, Madison, Illinois

16

September 3

Grand Prix at The Glen

Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York

17

September 17

GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma

Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California

The greatest transfer of the season – Newgarden moved to Team Penske

Team Penske replaces Montoya with Newgarden

Twenty-one full-time entries from eight teams are confirmed for the 2017 season. Some significant changes happened on the grid between two seasons. Juan-Pablo Montoya ended his three-year stint with the Team Penske, being demoted to a part-time status and confirming Indianapolis 500 participation only.

Team Penske’s #2 Chevrolet will be driven by Josef Newgarden, who scored career-best result last year, finishing fourth in the points and taking the Oval champion award. Other three drivers of Team Penske squadron remain the same – defending champion Simon Pagenaud in the #1 car, Helio Castroneves in the #3 and Will Power in the #12.

Defending champion Simon Pagenaud will drive the #1 Chevrolet

Chip Ganassi Racing without Target and again with Honda

The other major team with four cars, Chip Ganassi Racing, underwent big changes, losing its longstanding sponsor Target and switching from Chevrolet to Honda. In a fact, CGR is returning to Honda, as they worked together from 1996 to 1999 in the CART championship and between 2006 and 2013 in the IndyCar Series. For the 2017 season, Chip Ganassi retained all four drivers – Max Chilton (#8), Scott Dixon (#9), Tony Kanaan (#10) and Charlie Kimball (#83).

Alexander Rossi, 2016 Rookie of the Year and Indianapolis 500 winner, stays with Andretti Herta Autosport

Only one rookie on the grid

Carlos Munoz went to opposite direction, from Andretti Autosport to AJ Foyt’s team, taking the #14 car. The other AJ Foyt’s driver will be Conor Daly in the #4 Chevrolet. AJ Foyt Enterprises also changed a manufacturer, switching from Honda to Chevrolet. Dale Coyne Racing has a completely new line-up, with Sebastien Bourdais in the #18 Honda and 2016 Indy Lights championEd Jones in the #19 car. Ed Jones would be the only rookie on the grid during the 2017 season.

The 101th running of Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for May 28

JR Hildebrand returns for the full time

Last year’s rookie Spencer Pigot signed for Ed Carpenter Racing to share the #20 Chevrolet with team owner Ed Carpenter. Pigot will drive on street circuits and road courses, Carpenter will attend six rounds at ovals. The second ECR car, the one with number 21, is reserved for J.R. Hildebrand, who returns to a full-time schedule for the first time since 2012.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports will field two cars full time (#5 James Hinchcliffe and #7 Mikhail Aleshin) and one more for Indy 500 only, with British driver Jay Howard in the #77 Honda. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will have #15 Honda at the grid for 17 races, with Graham Rahal in a car, while Oriol Servia in the #16 car is announced for three races, including Indianapolis 500. One more entry for Indy 500 only is Sage Karam in the #24 Chevrolet for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.